


Still Water Balm

by princeymarmar



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Seisen no Keifu | Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War
Genre: Hurt/Comfort, Love Confessions, M/M, Mentions of other transcanons, Trans Male Character, binding, mentioned Seliph/Ares, unsafe binding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-01
Updated: 2020-02-01
Packaged: 2021-02-25 17:07:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,266
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22499554
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/princeymarmar/pseuds/princeymarmar
Summary: The Liberation Army enjoys a day's respite by swimming in a Thracian Lake. Sety, however, is not interested in swimming. As it turns out, neither is Arthur - for very different reasons.
Relationships: Asaa | Arthur/Sety | Ced
Comments: 2
Kudos: 13





	Still Water Balm

**Author's Note:**

> I think this was technically one of the first ever SetyArthur fics I ever started? Clearly I took my time finishing it, but I think once I returned to it I got through it pretty fast. At one point I was debating whether or not I wanted to post it, but having just reread it I decided I'm fond enough of it to share, so. Please enjoy my wish fulfillment fic,

It’s been days since the Liberation Army last had a break, and finding a small lake hidden deep in enemy Thracian territory is a relief. It doesn’t take long for the Army to strip down and jump into the sparkling clear water, whooping and cheering as they do.

Most of the Army, anyways.

Sety hangs back, content to stay dry and fully clothed. While it's true that not everyone has stripped to their shorts and underwear (several people are still wearing their usual shirts, or undershirts), he has no interest in getting sopping wet and waterlogged. If anyone asks, the gauze bandages wrapped around his lower back provide a convenient excuse, but - the nice thing about the Liberation Army was, for the most part, if he shakes his head and declines when they try to pull him into some mischief, they’ll give him a cheery “all right!” and leave him alone.

So he stays under the shade of a nearby tree, alternating between watching them and trying to read the book he picked up in the last castle town - some fictional tale of dragons and a princess in disguise as a prince (though part of him wonders if it’s really a “disguise” at this point, even if that definitely wasn’t the author’s intention). He’s sufficiently distracted by both that he doesn’t notice he’s not the only one hanging back until he hears footsteps next to him, and looks up to see - either one of his favorite or "least favorite" people in the Army, depending on when you asked him, and how exasperated by Arthur's antics he felt.

“Lovely day, isn’t it, Sety,” he says, plopping down beside him as he stares out at the rest of the Army, still frolicking in the water. Sety blinks at him, startled by the fact that he’s here when, well - Arthur always liked to be a center of attention, in the midst of people. Going swimming with everyone seems like exactly the sort of thing he’d enjoy.

“You’re not going to join them?” he asks, quirking an eyebrow. Arthur laughs, breathlessly.

“You kidding me? And ruin these nice, fancy clothes your sister bought me?” As if to prove a point, he tugs on the edge of his sweater, and shakes his head. “Nah. I like these clothes too much to ruin them, you know?”

Sety doesn’t think he knows, but he decides not to ask about it. After a long and oddly silent moment, Arthur slowly slinks back into a standing position, stretching as he does - and then, just barely, winces. “Saaaay, if you’re just planning to watch these here activities… Mind giving me a headsup when they’re about to come back?”

It’s a strange request, but Arthur _has_ always been a bit of an odd fellow - so, Sety nods, and Arthur grins and races off towards the tents.

It’s only after he’s disappeared from sight, and Sety stops to really _think_ about it, that he realizes there was something just slightly off about his breathing.

Arthur said to alert him when everyone else was coming back - but that didn’t mean Sety had to stay there. “Let me know when everyone starts getting out of the water,” he whispers to the air; there’s a tiny whisper, a little chitter, and a wind sylph moves to keep guard. The ghost of a smile forms on Sety’s lips, only for a moment, before he follows after Arthur.

He hears him before he sees him - a deep, hacking cough that comes directly from the men’s tent. The opening flap has been closed, and despite the mounting tightness in Sety’s chest as Arthur just coughs and _coughs_ \- he’s been raised to be polite, damnit, and so he just taps on the tent flap rather than barging in.

The coughing ceases immediately. “Arthur?” he calls, tentatively. “Arthur, are you all right?”

“...I asked you to keep an eye out,” Arthur says, hoarsely. Sety shakes his head.

“I am, I promise - I have a wind sylph out, if they start to leave I’ll know faster than I could have told you otherwise - but that doesn’t answer my question. _Are you okay?_ ”

There’s a long, silent pause; then a rustle, a groan, a whimper of pain - and then Arthur is sticking his head out through the tent flap, looking less than pleased. “None of your concern. Now, just, go, run along, watch how everything’s going, okay? And leave me be.”

Sety doesn’t budge, feeling more than a little concerned at how very not like Arthur this is. “Arthur, you're coughing up a storm, and - and you sound like you're in _pain_. I'm worried about you.”

Arthur freezes and stares at Sety, wide-eyed - and then he scoffs, and starts to pull back. “Well then,” he says, flatly, “don't be. I'm not sick or anything, so you won't catch a cold or anything if I cough on you. Good day.”

With that, he's gone, and the tent flap is firmly secured once more. Sety still refuses to budge, hands wringing behind his back. “I'm not worried about catching - what part of ‘I'm worried about _you_ ’ do you not understand?”

“And what part of ‘leave me be’ do _you_ not understand?” Arthur tosses back at him, mockingly, and Sety winces.

“...Sorry,” he murmurs, genuinely, and he backs off, away from the tent and back towards the lake. He's just started down the path again when he hears a sigh, and the tent flap opening again. Arthur exits, looking slightly more hunched than usual, firmly clutching his black overcoat around himself.

“...Look, I shouldn't have snapped at you, but - I wanted to have some time alone while everyone was out.” Arthur huffs and sinks down to the ground. “I didn't expect that you'd actually, like. Check up on me.”

It's said with an air of forced nonchalance, as though that would cover up just how _sad_ he looks, huddled on the ground like that, the little waver in his voice on “check up”. Sety crouches beside Arthur, wishing he knew just how to take away whatever pain he's trying to hide.

“Arthur… Arthur, of course I'd check up on you,” he says, voice gentle. “I _care_ about you, Arthur.”

“Oh,” says Arthur, looking thoroughly caught off guard, if just for a moment before his face masks back over. “Oh. Well. You shouldn't, but. Thanks, I guess.”

He huffs, and pulls the overcoat tighter around him, arms firmly crossing over his chest. He does not look at Sety when he speaks again. “I just wanted to _breathe_ for a bit, you know?”

Sety does not know, no - but he thinks he has an inkling now, of what Arthur probably means. He sits down beside him and stares at the horizon, because if Arthur couldn't look him in the eyes when saying it then he should at least offer the same sort of courtesy to Arthur in his response. “I was lucky enough to never need them myself, so I suppose it's not really my place to say - but I've heard chest bindings shouldn't be worn more than a few hours at a time.”

The reaction is instantaneous - Arthur starts sputtering up a storm, and then swearing, and then suddenly he has Sety by the shirt collar and he looks _murderous_ \- “Who told you,” he hisses, purple eyes burning; in that moment Sety almost swears they look red. “Who _fucking_ told you, it's _none_ of your business-”

“I guessed,” says Sety, voice far more calm and even than he's really feeling (Even though it's _Arthur_ , he does not like to be grabbed) - “I _guessed_ , Arthur. Between your breathing and the coughing, and the way you’re huddling in your coat and keeping your arms crossed - I thought that binding might be a logical explanation.”

"Oh," says Arthur, quiet once more; his grip on Sety's collar starts to slowly loosen, before it seems to dawn on him what he's just done and he quickly lets go entirely, not looking Sety in the eyes. "Oh."

A moment passes, and then his breath hitches, and he looks back at Sety with wide eyes. "It's not - it's not _that_ obvious, right?"

"I would never have guessed before this," Sety tells him, honestly, reaching out to smooth his hands over Arthur's shoulders. "And even if it was, I think you're quite safe, here. I mean, Seliph openly uses they, Leif uses anything, Lakche and Lana are both acknowledged as women - hell, even with the adults! Shannan and Finn are both trans men, too, and Oifey doesn’t exactly conform to masculine gender standards. It’s not like you’re alone, and if everyone’s willing to respect _them_ \- some of the greatest authorities in the Liberation Army, mind you! - then I’m sure they’ll still be willing to extend that courtesy to you.”

 _And me,_ he thinks but doesn’t say, even though he should say it, it’s only fair to say since he’s outed Arthur so he should out himself, too - but the words just won’t budge off his tongue. Thankfully, Arthur seems relieved anyway, even without that.

“Oh,” he says, shoulders relaxing under Sety’s hands. “I guess you’re right.”

He pulls away from Sety and turns back to the horizon, kicking at the ground beneath him with one boot. “I guess I’ve always known that, logically,” he says after a moment. “I know no one’s going to raise a fuss about it, just - I can’t? Grasp it? On an emotional level?” His arms tighten around himself once more, a distant look in his eyes. “There’s a disconnect between what I logically know and how I feel. And maybe it’s just, dysphoria talking - I really, truly hate taking off the bindings even when I know I should - but. I just.”

He exhales shakily, eyes closing as he lowers his head into his arms. “I can’t help but… fear the reactions. Even when I know there shouldn’t be any.”

Sety sighs, staring at him, before gently placing a hand back on his shoulder. “If you want, you can sleep in my tent at night?” he offers, tilting his head. “I’m in no place to judge, and I already know about it, so - it’ll be a safe way to ensure that you get out of your bindings at night, at least.”

Arthur tilts his head to stare at Sety for a moment. “Heh. I guess… I guess that would be helpful, sure. Oh, what will the rest of the army think…” he mutters with a dry laugh as he turns back to the horizon; there’s a different kind of distant look to his eyes now, one that Sety doesn’t like much, so he decides to divert his attention in the most dramatic way he can think of.

"That it was about time?"

Arthur starts coughing again, a vastly different sound from the way he’d been hacking earlier. “Pardon?!” he says, whipping around to look Sety dead in the eye; Sety shrugs, unable to stop a smile inching onto his face.

“If nothing else, or even if nothing comes of it immediately, it will still be fuel to their betting pools, right? There’s no way they don’t have one on us. They have one for Ares and Seliph, which is ultimately only a slightly different flavor of bicker couple, isn’t it?”

“Please stop joking,” Arthur groans, head sinking into his hands; Sety frowns.

“I’m not joking. They really do have a betting pool for - well, most of the obvious couples, actually, Ares and Seliph included. Have you truly not heard? It seems more up your alley than mine, I can find someone to hook you in on the-”

“ _Whyyyyyy_ would I be talking about the Ares and Seliph betting pool!” Arthur groans again, and this time he’s the one to grab Sety by the shoulders. “I meant about. About…”

He trails off, and gestures at the both of them. Sety blinks. “I still don’t know what you’re talking about. You know that I’m not especially good at making jokes, Arthur.”

Arthur freezes, staring up at him. “Oh,” he murmurs, very softly, soft enough that Sety almost misses it. “ _Oh_.”

He pauses another moment, and then, with a soft smile, he echoes his words of earlier: “Well. You shouldn’t. But.”

And then he lunges forward with enough force that they both tip back onto the ground, and while Sety can’t frankly say he _likes_ being on his back (especially not with the brief flareup of pain from the injury under his bandages), he decides that maybe it isn’t so bad if it’s _Arthur-_

The sylph he set on guard earlier trills a warning in his ear before Arthur can kiss him, which is deeply disappointing. He forces his way back up into a sitting position, causing Arthur to whine in dismay as he slides down into his lap. “The army is coming back,” he says, simply, patting Arthur’s back. “I assume you’ll want to change back, so…”

Arthur heaves a sigh, before pushing himself off Sety’s lap. “Yeah. You’re right.” He huffs as he stands up, glancing around before - “But… the offer’s still open?”

Sety nods up at him. “Of course. I’ll see you tonight, then?”

“I mean, you’ll see me sooner than that, but - yeah!” says Arthur, before bolting right back into the men’s tent. Sety watches the flaps waving after him for a moment, and stays right where he’s sitting as he listens to the approaching chatter of the returning Liberation Army, keeping guard until Arthur pops his head back out a few minutes later, back in his bindings.

Almost as if they’d never been off.

**Author's Note:**

> I personally have not ever bound before, because I haven't gotten the chance, BUT I have read Proper Binding Safety Methods, and wearing a binder constantly is Bad. I have also heard things about coughing/deep breathing after wearing a binder as a method of like... decompressing/clearing out your lungs, I think? And even if that ISN'T actually true, it still works out as being something Arthur Might Have Heard once and decided to test out.
> 
> Usually I headcanon Sety as dmab agender, but it felt just a little weird to use that in the one where he tells Arthur off for binding improperly. So as far as this fic goes he's trans and he told Forseti!Lewyn when he was younger and Forseti, who is Also Dragon Trans when not possessing people, was like huzzah! and gave him magical dragon puberty blockers/T.
> 
> At least, that's my version of the Lore.


End file.
